Golf: Driven Hendry is on a mission

Mike Hendry is about to pack his suitcase yet again and head west although his gaze will be tilted towards a distant horizon to the northeast where he sees a long-term future in a land of opportunity.
The Auckland touring golf professional - who won the Carrus Tauranga Open two years ago - flies out to Jakarta on Sunday for the Indonesian PGA Championship next week, the first stop on the OneAsia Tour for 2011 where he wants to begin laying the foundations for a pathway he intends will lead him to the United States and the lucrative PGA Tour.
While still relatively inexperienced, he is 31 and likes to think he knows his own game inside out.
And that's why he views his second season on the OneAsia circuit as a stepping stone to the US where the game's elite duke it out for the potential riches to be had there.
Providing his form is right, he is likely to head Stateside in the middle of the year to make use of his PGA Tour limited membership, earned for reaching the third and final stage of tour qualifying school last season.
It does not guarantee him any starts but he is not averse to trying his luck through Monday qualifying for PGA events and, anyway, that is much preferable to being a "journeyman on the (secondary) Nationwide Tour".
HENDRY knows he has much to accomplish before he earns the right to share tee space with the game's stars but that does not mean he will lower his sights any time soon.
"I would love to be a top 50 player in the world for a long period of time and be competing at major events," he said this week.
"I really want to test myself against the very best all around the world. To do that I have to be in the top 50. That's a long way away at the moment but that is what I am working towards."
And don't suggest to Hendry that his current world ranking of 402nd makes his lofty career goals unobtainable.
After all, he began 2010 in the mid 700s before his maiden tour title catapulted him into the mid 400s.
"I don't necessarily think my game is that far away from being at that level. I think it's about getting the opportunity to play bigger events and get more ranking points.
"Realistically, I am two wins away or two good seasons of solid performances like last year, and I could get there."
Craig Dixon, his coach of almost three years, is a firm believer and he puts nothing beyond Hendry, a driven individual with a mind of his own and the inner determination required to make the most of what he has.
"His dedication and application of tasks is absolutely outstanding," Dixon said of Hendry.
"He knows what he wants. There is no doubt in my mind that he will be among the top 50 in the world at some point."
IT IS Hendry's razor sharp competitive edge which leaves him eagerly anticipating the US$3 million China Open on April 21-24 when he will rub shoulders with the likes of three-time major champion Padraig Harrington and Spanish sensation Sergio Garcia in an event carrying European Tour sanctioning.
A late bloomer who only took to golf after turning his back on a promising cricket career in his early 20s, Hendry headed to Asia this time last year desperate to make up for lost time.
He did that - and more - by winning the Indonesian Open and securing top 10 finishes at the SK Telekom Open in Korea and the Asia-Pacific Panasonic Open in Japan, to complete his rookie season abroad third on the tour's moneylist with tournament income of US$247,093 ($338,000) , leaving him behind only China's well travelled Liang Wen-chong and Korean Kim Dae-hyun on the circuit rankings.
His breakthrough win in the Indonesian event earned him US$180,000 alone and the manner of victory remains a constant source of comfort at times when confidence is low and energy levels are flagging.
He won it going away from the field, a closing round of seven-under-par 65 featuring seven birdies in a nine-hole stretch to give him a seven shot cushion on Liang, his closest pursuer.
NOT THAT Hendry is one to rest on his laurels. Although he scarcely qualifies as a fidgety type, tinkering for tinkering's sake, he has emerged from a period where he has worked hard to take his game to the next level.
And he is confident he has bedded down a couple of small technical improvements to aid his development and is excited to see where they lead him.
"I put in a lot of hard work at the beginning of the year trying to make a couple of subtle changes. "When you do that, you can't expect to play well and I did go through a bit of a rough patch there but it is now all starting to knit together nicely."
He admits he is the type of player who will forever be seeking perfection in his game, a character type common to the very best players who refuse to accept their best days are behind them.
"It's one of those games in which there is always something you can do better. Obviously, being a professional it is about competing and winning and being able to forge a living out of it.
"But I have always thought it is more about becoming a master of the game, of becoming a master of your trade and being able to do everything to the best of your ability. The money, the accolades and the wins tend to follow."
He said he considered his best golf was played in 2009 but he was flying under the radar at that point, competing domestically and in Australia.
"I played better in '09 than last year. I felt I had more control over my golf ball for longer periods than I did last year. Last year I had two or three great weeks but the rest of it was a bit scrappy."
That helps explain the man's solid work ethic which, married to no small amount of talent, may well take him to the giddy heights he aspires to.